Digital fraud is no longer seasonal and threatens businesses year-round

Fraud risks do not end after major retail dates such as Father's Day or Black Friday—periods ripe for cyberattacks and digital scams. On the contrary, a growing trend is the increase in fraudulent activities in the months following these commercial events. According to Nethone, a digital fraud detection solution, in 2025, suspicious fraud attempts remained above 400 million in January and February, indicating that fraudsters continue to target users even when the volume of returns, refunds, and complaints is at its peak—making detection even more challenging.

From April to July, fraud attempts exceeded 500 million, demonstrating that the risk is no longer solely tied to traditional shopping seasons but rather to opportunistic attacks during promotional cycles. These "invisible peaks" represent a challenge for retail, as they reveal that platforms and anti-fraud systems need to operate with the same intensity even after the events and throughout the entire year.

Furthermore, with the growing adoption of global events such as 8.8, 9.9, 10.10, Prime Day, and other international flash sales, the Brazilian e-commerce calendar has become increasingly fragmented and distributed, creating multiple sales peaks that attract more attacks.

Among the most common crimes are chargeback fraud, where stolen credit card data is used to make online purchases; the creation of fake accounts to improperly take advantage of coupons and promotions; and social engineering scams, in which criminals pose as company representatives to steal sensitive data or even money. The use of bots is also on the rise, carrying out automated attacks on login, registration, and payment processes. With the support of AI tools and stolen data, these methods have become more sophisticated, making it even more difficult to identify criminals, especially during periods of high operational demand.

"Fraudsters adapt and create their own calendar, intensifying their actions with every new high-traffic opportunity, whether global or local. This shows that companies need to adopt a continuous prevention strategy, aligned with every marketing and sales initiative—and not just reinforce defenses during classic annual events like Black Friday or Christmas," explains Thiago Bertacchini, Head of Sales and fraud detection expert at Nethone.

To mitigate risks, companies should combine advanced fraud detection technologies with well-structured internal policies. Machine learning and behavioral analysis solutions enable the identification of suspicious patterns in real-time, reduce false positives, and block attempts. It is essential to strengthen authentication processes, review payment flows, and implement additional checks on high-value transactions or newly created accounts. Furthermore, continuous team training and regularly updated security protocols ensure greater resilience against attacks. Another important measure is clear communication with the customer about best practices—such as avoiding sharing sensitive information and verifying the legitimacy of contacts—to complement the company's prevention efforts.

In this scenario, solutions that offer accurate AI models without the need for manual review, analyzing user and device signals in each transaction, become indispensable. The technology must adapt to the specifics of each operation, trained with labeled historical data and continuous feedback, to prevent losses throughout the entire year and during every sales peak.